Cornelius a Lapide
Index
Synopsis Capitis
Praedicit cladem Aethiopum instantem per Sennacherib, et futuram per Nabuchodonosorem: quam enim inchoavit Sennacherib, hanc Nabuchodonosor complevit. Deinde, vers. 7, eos ad Dominum convertendos praedicit.
Textus Vulgatae: Isaias 18:1-7
1. Vae terrae cymbalo alarum, quae est trans flumina Aethiopiae, 2. qui mittit in mare legatos, et in vasis papyri super aquas. Ite, angeli veloces, ad gentem convulsam, et dilaceratam; ad populum terribilem, post quem non est alius; ad gentem exspectantem et conculcatam, cujus diripuerunt flumina terram ejus. 3. Omnes habitatores orbis, qui moramini in terra, cum elevatum fuerit signum in montibus, videbitis, et clangorem tubae audietis: 4. quia haec dicit Dominus ad me: Quiescam, et considerabo in loco meo, sicut meridiana lux clara est, et sicut nubes roris in die messis. 5. Ante messem enim totus effloruit, et immatura perfectio germinabit, praecidentur ramusculi ejus falcibus: et quae derelicta fuerint, abscindentur, et excutientur. 6. Et relinquetur simul avibus montium, et bestiis terrae: et aestate perpetua erunt super eum volucres, et omnes bestiae terrae super illum hiemabunt. 7. In tempore illo, deferetur munus Domino exercituum a populo divulso et dilacerato; a populo terribili, post quem non fuit alius; a gente exspectante, exspectante et conculcata, cujus diripuerunt flumina terram ejus, ad locum nominis Domini exercituum, montem Sion.
Versus 1: Woe to the Land of the Cymbal of Wings
1. VAE TERRAE CYMBALO ALARUM. — Primo, Ludovicus Legionensis et Montanus in Abdiam putant hic, uti et apud Abdiam, in fine, esse prophetiam de Indis, et novo orbe subjugando et convertendo; pro Vae enim hebraice est הוי hoi, quod potest verti, Age, heus, ut vertit Forerius: quasi Deus hortetur hic Hispanos cymbalo alarum, id est classibus, instructos, ut gentes illas convulsas, et exspectantes opem ad salutem, adeant et adjuvent. Unde Vatablus (cui et consentit Forerius) sic vertit et explicat: « Heus, terra umbrae alarum, quae es ultra flumina Aethiopiae, id est quae navibus abundas, quae recipis umbram velorum multarum navium. Vocatio Gentium describitur, et liberatio de manibus mundi et Satanae per Christum facta. Heus, inquit, terra, quae es sita ultra Aethiopiam; quae scates fluminibus, id est terra in extremo orbe posita: synecdochice intelligens quoque alias regiones ultimas, in omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, q. d. Evangelium ubique praedicabitur. Populos remotissimos invitat ad Christum. » Hucusque Vatablus. Confirmat id Bosius, tom. II De Notis Eccles., lib. XX, signo LXXXIV: primo, quia cum ait: « Trans flumina Aethiopiae, et post quem non est alius, » notat extremos Indiarum populos; secundo, quia Indi e « vasis papyri, » id est e suberibus et corticibus arborum, cymbas excavabant, quibus legerent littora: carebant enim magnis navibus, magnete arteque navigandi altum mare; tertio, quia ait: « Cujus diripuerunt flumina terram ejus, » ut ostendat populos illos divulsos a nobis, nostroque continenti, vel absorptam ab intercurrenti Oceano terram. Refert enim Plato in Timaeo et Critia maximam insulam Atlantidem, et quae amplitudine Europam et Asiam superaret, Hispaniis olim adjunctam, sed Oceani vorticibus demersam; vel ob plurimas aquarum inundationes, quibus illa tellus obnoxia fuit; et quarum memoria et fama permanent etiamnum in Indorum mentibus, ut scribit Franciscus Gomez, Hist. Indica, part. II, cap. CXXII. Sic de Indis hinc locum accipiunt Arias Montanus, Josephus Acosta, Fredericus Lumnius, Joannes Fernandes, quos citat et sequitur Delrio, adagio 723.
Verum patet ex vers. 5 et 6, hanc prophetiam, uti et reliquas hisce capitibus, continere onus, id est prophetiam minacem contra Aethiopiam vel Aegyptum, eique vae intentare. Secundo, Justinus, Contra Tryphonem; Oecumenius, in Prologo Epist. ad Rom., et Leo Castrius putant hic agi de Judaea. Sic enim Apoc. XI, 8, Hierosolyma vocatur « Aegyptus, » q. d. Vae Judaeae, quae mittit undique litteras ad Christi nomen et fidem blasphemandam et perdendam! Hoc mysticum est, non litterale, uti patebit ex seqq. Tale est et illud S. Gregorii, XIII Moral. VII, in Romana editione 5: Vae terrae etc., inquit, hoc est, vae Antichristo superbo, qui praecones suos per totum orbem mittit!
Secondly, Justin, Against Trypho; Oecumenius, in the Prologue to the Epistle to the Romans, and Leo Castrius think the subject here is Judaea. For thus in Apocalypse XI, 8, Jerusalem is called "Egypt," as if to say: Woe to Judaea, which sends letters everywhere to blaspheme and destroy the name and faith of Christ! This is mystical, not literal, as will be clear from what follows.
Such also is the interpretation of St. Gregory, XIII Moralia VII, in the Roman edition 5: Woe to the land, etc., he says, that is, woe to the proud Antichrist, who sends his heralds throughout the whole world!
Tertio, S. Hieronymus, Cyrillus, Haymo, Procopius, D. Thomas, Lyranus, Adamus et Ribera in Sophon. III, putant hic agi de Aegypto, q. d. Vae Aegypto, quae in umbra alarum suarum, et, ut Septuaginta, in navibus alatis, auxilium pollicetur Judaeis! Notum enim est Judaeos ab Assyriis aliisque afflictos, ad Aegyptiorum opem confugere solitos, perinde ac Israelitae confugiebant ad opem Syrorum seu Damascenorum, ut dixit cap. praecedenti. Ita sub hoc tempus rex Aegypti pollicitus erat opem Ezechiae contra Sennacherib, ut patet IV Reg. XVIII. Sicut ergo cap. praeced., Syrorum, ita hic Aegyptiorum poenam et cladem denuntiat, quae a Chaldaeis peracta est. Nam Nabuchodonosor anno quinto post excidium Hierosolymae vastavit Aegyptum, teste Josepho, lib. X Antiq. XI. Hunc sensum de Aegyptiis secutus noster Carpenteius, ita eum docte heroico carmine expressit: Vae tibi, quae reducem sistris crepitantibus Apim Concelebras, crotalos et inania cymbala pulsans, Amne superba sacro tellus, quem nobile munus Aethiopes mittunt ignotis fontibus ortum.
Our Carpenteius, following this interpretation concerning the Egyptians, expressed it learnedly in heroic verse:
Woe to you, who celebrate the returning Apis with rattling sistra, Beating castanets and hollow cymbals, O land proud of your sacred river, which the Ethiopians send As a noble gift, sprung from unknown sources.
Verum dico hic non de Aegypti, sed de Aethiopiae clade agi, quae est sub Aegypto, puta de Abyssia ubi regnat Preto-Joannes, qui imperium habet juxta Nilum, et late dominatur usque ad mare Rubrum. Probatur id: Primo, quia capite sequenti incipit onus Aegypti, ergo non hoc. Secundo, quia Aethiopes sunt vicini Aegyptiis; unde aeque ut Aegyptii infestarunt Judaeos, ut patet de Aethiopibus, qui cum Sesac rege Aegypti contra eos conjurarunt, II Paralip. XII, 2, et de Zara Aethiope, qui cum innumeris copiis venit contra Asa regem Juda, II Paralip. XIV, 9: ergo sicut Aegyptii, Idumaei, Syri et alii Judaeorum hostes hic a Deo plectuntur, et suum excipiunt onus, ita et Aethiopes. Unde iis Sophonias, cap. II, 12, et Jeremias, cap. XLIX, gladium et exitium intentant. Tertio, quia quod hoc capite dicitur de Aethiopibus, idem dicitur de Aegyptiis capite sequenti; si enim utrobique loqueretur de Aegyptiis, frustra idem capite sequenti repeteret. Quarto, quia verisimile est Aethiopes, aeque ac Aegyptios, per legatos opem promisisse Judaeis contra Assyrios; ideo enim Tharaca rex Aethiopum videtur venisse contra Sennacherib, ut scilicet eum a Judaea et Aegypto depelleret, quia non cupiebat hostem adeo potentem tam habere vicinum. Quinto, quia Aegyptus proprie non est trans, sed intra rivos Nili; Aethiopia est autem trans eos. Rursum papyrus et naves ex papyro tam sunt in Aethiopia, ubi incipit Nilus, quam in Aegypto; unde naves papyraceae vocantur Aethiopicae; imo Aethiopia pene solum habet Nilum, et per eum descendit in Aegyptum.
First, because in the following chapter the burden of Egypt begins; therefore not in this one.
Second, because the Ethiopians are neighbors of the Egyptians; hence equally with the Egyptians they harassed the Jews, as is clear from the Ethiopians who conspired with Shishak king of Egypt against them, II Paralipomenon XII, 2, and from Zerah the Ethiopian, who came with innumerable forces against Asa king of Judah, II Paralipomenon XIV, 9: therefore just as the Egyptians, Edomites, Syrians, and other enemies of the Jews are here punished by God and receive their burden, so also are the Ethiopians. Hence Sophonias, chapter II, 12, and Jeremiah, chapter XLIX, threaten them with the sword and destruction.
Third, because what is said in this chapter about the Ethiopians is the same as what is said about the Egyptians in the following chapter; for if he were speaking about the Egyptians in both places, he would be repeating the same thing pointlessly in the next chapter.
Fourth, because it is probable that the Ethiopians, equally with the Egyptians, promised aid to the Jews through ambassadors against the Assyrians; for Tirhakah king of the Ethiopians seems to have come against Sennacherib precisely to drive him from Judaea and Egypt, because he did not want to have so powerful an enemy so near.
Fifth, because Egypt properly is not beyond, but within the branches of the Nile; but Ethiopia is beyond them. Again, papyrus and ships made from papyrus are found in Ethiopia, where the Nile begins, as well as in Egypt; hence papyrus boats are called Ethiopian; indeed Ethiopia almost exclusively has the Nile, and descends through it into Egypt.
Sexto, quia Aethiopibus competit vae cymbali alarum, id est apes et muscae suis alis, id est copiis, cymbalizantes, id est strepitum instar cymbali excitantes. Sicut ergo Assyrios comparavit apibus et muscis, cap. VII, vers. 18: ita et hic iisdem comparat Aethiopes: primo, ob eorum nigrorem; secundo, ob eorum frequentiam, qua etiamnum est innumera; tertio, ob eorum turbam et strepitum; item ob eorum in suis copiis et armis inanem gloriationem; bombizabant enim instar apum et muscarum, quae praeter bombos et strepitum alarum sonitum, nihil habent virium; unde quinto, significatur hic, quod in armis sint imbelles et invalidi. Septimo, quia eadem congruitate aptari possunt Aethiopibus, qua Aegyptiis, imo nonnulla majori, ut illud: « Post quem non est alius. » Ita de Aethiopibus haec exponunt Pineda in Salomone praevio lib. IV, cap. XIV, vers. 3, Sanchez et Forerius. Porro, Aethiopia post Aegyptum, cui adjacet, vastata est primo a Sennacherib, ut ostendam cap. XX, 1. Deinde a Nabuchodonosore, ut docet Sophonias, cap. II, 12, cum ait: « Et vos, Aethiopes, interfecti gladio meo eritis; » et Megasthenes apud Josephum, lib. I Contra Apionem. Hic magis agi de prima vastatione, patebit cap. XX. Denique id clare docet versio Arabica Alexandrina quae sic habet: Vae terrae, cujus fines umbrosae sunt extremitates, quibus includitur, in qua incessus prolongatus est, videlicet terra Aethiopia, de qua opinati sunt filii Israel, quod ea protegerentur!
Seventh, because the same fitting qualities can be applied to the Ethiopians as to the Egyptians, indeed some even more so, such as: "After whom there is no other." Thus Pineda in his Preliminary Work on Solomon, book IV, chapter XIV, verse 3, Sanchez, and Forerius explain these words of the Ethiopians. Moreover, Ethiopia, after Egypt to which it is adjacent, was devastated first by Sennacherib, as I shall show in chapter XX, 1. Then by Nebuchadnezzar, as Sophonias teaches, chapter II, 12, when he says: "And you, Ethiopians, shall be slain by My sword;" and Megasthenes in Josephus, book I Against Apion. That the subject here is rather the first devastation will be clear from chapter XX. Finally, the Arabic Alexandrian version clearly teaches this, which reads: Woe to the land whose extremities are shadowy borders by which it is enclosed, in which the journey is prolonged, namely the land of Ethiopia, of which the children of Israel thought that they would be protected by it!
VAE TERRAE CYMBALO ALARUM! — Est appositio, q. d. Vae terrae Aethiopiae, quae est cymbalum alarum, id est cymbalata in alis, vel habens alas sonantes instar cymbali! quia Aethiopes magno strepitu, praedicatione et gloriatione, instar apum et muscarum, ut dixi, alarum complosione, id est virium et copiarum suarum ostentatione ac jactatione personantes instar cymbali opem suam Judaeis spondebant. Sic Tiberius Caesar Apionem grammaticum, qui gloriabatur se eos quos scriptis suis laudasset, immortales facere, vocabat cymbalum mundi, teste Plinio in praefatione ad Vespasianum, et Apostolus, I Corinth. XIII, scientiam charitate carentem et eloquentiam vocat « cymbalum tinniens. » Secundo, quia instar cymbali tantum tinnitum id est sonitum inanem et futilem, edebant, promittentes opem quam reipsa non erant praestituri; hoc est, ut vulgo dicitur, erant baculus arundineus, cui nemo ob inanitatem tuto innititur, Isaia XXXVII, 6: hic ergo baculus, uti et cymbalum, significat auxilium inane et fallax.
Secondly, because like a cymbal they produced only a tinkling, that is, an empty and futile sound, promising help which they were not actually going to provide; that is, as the common saying goes, they were a reed staff, on which no one can safely lean because of its hollowness, Isaiah XXXVII, 6: here therefore the staff, as also the cymbal, signifies vain and deceptive help.
Tertio, Sanchez: Aethiopia, inquit, abundans navibus in Nilo et mari, vocatur cymbalum alarum, quia cymbalum sua cavitate est quasi navis; unde alii pro cymbalum vertunt, cymba, et, ut Vatablus, nassa, in qua vela sunt quasi alae; unde Septuaginta vertunt, navium alis. Ab hoc alarum remigio naves vocantur velivolae, ait Delrio, adagio 171. Rursum Aethiopicae naves vocantur cymbalum vel cymbalatae, quia Aethiopes, et post eos Aegyptii, molles, inter navigandum lituis ac sistris concrepare solebant; unde Plutarchus in Vita Antonii describit navem Cleopatrae, in qua remi ad fistulae tibiaeque modulos movebantur et personabant. Quarto, aliqui putant Aethiopiam vocari cymbalum alarum, propter Nilum, qui ad Catadupa cum strepitu praeceps ruit instar avium (hinc Theodotion pro cymbalo vertit, aves). Unde Catadupi sunt Aethiopum populi ad novissimum Nili cataractem, ubi inter occursantes scopulos tanto fragore Nili aquae ruunt, ut nimia soni vehementia accolas surdos efficiant, de quo Plinius, lib. V, cap. IX. Pro cymbalo alarum Hebraice est צלצל tsiltsel, quod verti potest, inumbrantis; Aquila aliis punctis legit per diastolen צל צל tseltsel, ut sit nomen geminatum significans umbra, umbra, id est maxima umbra. Unde et Syrus vertit: Vae terrae umbrae alarum! Sicut enim mater pullos protegit velo et umbra alarum suarum, ita Aethiopia spondebat se suis copiis et alis militaribus tutaturam Judaeos. Sic et Vatablus ac Forerius: « Nomen, inquit, tsel geminatum frequentiam umbrarum notat, id est frequentiam et copiam velorum, quae sunt instar alarum, quasi dicat: Heus terra quae frequentibus navium velis mare obumbras et flumina! » Talis enim fuit Aethiopia, indeque Aegyptus. Vide Plinium, lib. XII, cap. XI, et Strabonem, lib. XVII.
Fourthly, some think Ethiopia is called the cymbal of wings because of the Nile, which at the Cataracts rushes headlong with a roar like birds (hence Theodotion translates cymbal as birds). Hence the Catadupians are peoples of Ethiopia at the last cataract of the Nile, where the waters of the Nile rush between opposing rocks with such a roar that the excessive force of the sound makes the inhabitants deaf, about which see Pliny, book V, chapter IX.
For "cymbal of wings" the Hebrew is צלצל tsiltsel, which can be translated as overshadowing; Aquila with different vowel points reads by diastole צל צל tseltsel, so that it is a doubled noun signifying shadow, shadow, that is, the deepest shadow. Hence the Syriac also translates: Woe to the land of the shadow of wings! For just as a mother protects her chicks with the covering and shadow of her wings, so Ethiopia was promising to protect the Jews with its forces and military wings.
So also Vatablus and Forerius: "The name tsel doubled," he says, "denotes a frequency of shadows, that is, a multitude and abundance of sails, which are like wings, as if to say: Ho, land which with the frequent sails of ships overshadows the sea and rivers!" For such was Ethiopia, and from it Egypt. See Pliny, book XII, chapter XI, and Strabo, book XVII.
QUAE EST TRANS FLUMINA AETHIOPIAE, — id est trans Nilum, quem de Aethiopia in Aegyptum fluere nemo dubitat, ait S. Hieronymus. Porro Nilum vocat flumina, quia Nilus habet septem rivos instar septem fluminum, quibus se in mare septem ostiis exonerat. Unde et Ezechiel hos rivos vocat flumina, cap. XXIX, 3. Dicitur Aethiopia trans flumina, id est trans septem rivos Nili, respectu Hierosolymae; ejus enim respectu plagas orbis consignat Scriptura. Sed cur utitur hac periphrasi Propheta? cur non clare dicit: Vae Aethiopiae? Respondeo: primo, quia Prophetae gaudent obscuritate; secundo, flumina meminit, quia sequitur: « Qui mittit in mare legatos, » etc.; tertio, hoc ipso quo nominat flumina Aethiopiae, significat se de Aethiopia loqui; solet enim Scriptura per flumina designare provincias et regna, uti ostendi cap. VIII, vers. 6. Unde to Aethiopia tam ad to trans flumina (eo enim pertinere patet ex regimine Hebraeo) quam ad to vae terrae referri potest, q. d. Vae terrae Aethiopiae, quae est trans flumina Aethiopiae, id est sua; solent enim Hebraei pro pronomine meum, tuum, suum, etc., ponere et repetere ipsum nomen antecedens. Sic Psalm. CXXI dicitur: « Stantes erant pedes nostri in atriis tuis, Jerusalem: Jerusalem quae aedificatur ut civitas. Rogate quae ad pacem sunt Jerusalem. » Ubi secundo repetitur nomen antecedens, scilicet Jerusalem, poniturque pro pronomine quae et ejus.
Versus 2: Who sends ambassadors by the sea
2. Qui mittit in mare legatos. — « Qui, » scilicet « rex. » Est enallage personae; transit enim a terra et regno ad regem. Vide Can. XVI, q. d. Rex Aethiopiae, v. g. Tharaca, mittit per mare legatos in vasis, id est in navibus papyri, tum ad alias gentes, tum ad Judaeos, promittens eis opem contra Assyrios. ET IN VASIS PAPYRI SUPER AQUAS, — q. d. Mittit legatos et milites auxiliares in navibus, quae in Aethiopia, uti et in Aegypto, fiunt ex papyro frutice. Vide dicta Exodi II, 5.
AND IN VESSELS OF PAPYRUS UPON THE WATERS, — as if to say: He sends ambassadors and auxiliary soldiers in ships, which in Ethiopia, as also in Egypt, are made from the papyrus plant. See what was said on Exodus II, 5.
Notat rursum in papyro levi et fragili, licet picturata, fucatam et fragilem opem et vires Aethiopum. Haec enim Aethiopiae conveniunt, non Aegypto: nam Aegyptii copias suas in Judaeam mittebant terra, non fluvio: Aethiopes vero fluvio; nam Nilo descendebant secundo flumine in Aegyptum, inde pedestri itinere pergebant in Judaeam.
Septuaginta vertunt, qui mittit epistolas byblinas (hae enim aeque ut naves fiebant e papyro), scilicet ad Judaeos, quibus eis auxilium pollicetur. S. Cyrillus haec refert ad superstitionem Aegyptiorum, qua litteras mittebant in mare, quasi gaudentes de reperto Adonide Veneris amasio, de quo Ezech. VIII, 14. Sanchez per epistolas byblinas accipit naves papyraceas; epistola enim graece significat aliquid missum et extrusum, aut potius, inquit, epistolas vocat naves perferentes legatos cum epistolis, per metonymiam; tales enim naves a Seneca, lib. XI, cap. LXXVIII, vocantur tabellariae. Arabicus vertit, mittit scripturas vel libros papyri, sive chartae.
Sanchez understands the papyrus letters as papyrus ships; for epistola in Greek means something sent and dispatched, or rather, he says, he calls the ships carrying ambassadors with letters "epistles," by metonymy; for such ships are called courier ships by Seneca, book XI, chapter LXXVIII. The Arabic translates, he sends writings or books of papyrus, or of paper.
ITE, ANGELI VELOCES, AD GENTEM CONVULSAM. — S. Hieronymus et alii putant esse mimesim, sive imitationem vocis regis Aegypti, q. d. Ite, o legati, o nuntii mei! per Nilum ad Judaeos, qui sunt gens bello convulsa; licet olim sub Davide et Salomone fuerit terribilis, cui alia non fuit similis (nam pro post quem, alii legunt, prae quo, non est alius), nunc vero afflicta est exspectans auxilium: quia flumina, id est reges Israel, Assyriorum exercitu instar fluminum eam obruunt.
Secundo, alii cum Vatablo censent hic gentes, maxime remotas et Indicas, vocari ad Christi fidem, ad easque mitti Angelos, id est Apostolos, quia ipsae a daemone, infidelitate et peccatis convulsae sunt, ut per Christi gratiam restaurentur et salventur, doceanturque ferre crucem et mortem optare pro Christo, ideoque hos angelos opponi angelis sive legatis Judaeorum, de quibus iidem accipiunt vers. 1, ut dixi. Ita Oecumenius, Procopius, Castrius, q. d. Ite, o Angeli, o Apostoli! ite, o Xaveri! o Gaspar! ite, o Religiosi, zelosi! ad Barbaros, ad Indos vitiis convulsos, et ad tartara ruentes, vestramque opem exspectantes, afferte eis fidem, gratiam, salutem.
Tertio et genuine, Sanchez censet legatis Aethiopum infirmis et papyraceis, de quibus vers. 1, opponi angelos, id est legatos Dei, puta Sennacherib et Assyrios, quos Deus misit contra Tharaca aliosque Aethiopes, qui proinde sunt gens ab eis convulsa, conculcata et dilacerata, id est ex Dei decreto brevi convellenda et dilaceranda, licet antea videretur esse terribilis; hi etiam proprie sunt « populus, post quem non est alius: » sunt enim in fine orbis versus Meridiem. Pertingunt enim per regnum Congi et Monomotapae ad promontorium Bonae-Spei, in quo terminatur terra, sive continens versus Meridiem: nam ultra illud non est nisi Oceanus, ut patet ex Tabulis cosmographicis Ortelii et aliorum.
AD GENTEM EXSPECTANTEM (aliqui legunt, exspectantem exspectantem, id est plane et omnino exspectantem; Hebraea enim geminant קו kav kav) ET CONCULCATAM, — id est mox certo convellendam, et in Dei praescientia ac decreto jam convulsam. Nota: Hebraeum kav, primo, significat extensum, puta lineam: inde secundo, spem et exspectationem; spes enim sperantis animum quasi lineam extendit ad rem speratam. Ad verbum ergo Hebraea sic vertas cum Vatablo, Pagnino, Forerio et aliis, ad gentem lineae lineae, et conculcationis. Gens lineae vocatur, cui ad lineam, quasi ad amussim, pro demeritis admensa et commensa, hoc est decreta, est a Deo poena et vindicta. Est metaphora a fabris et architectis: hi enim ad lineam, quasi ad normam, perpendiculum, regulam et directorium fabricant et aedificant. Sic et Deus ad lineam meritorum vel demeritorum cuique destinat, cudit et fabricat praemium, vel poenam. Sic cap. XXXIV, vers. 11, dicitur: « Extendetur super eam mensura, ut redigatur ad nihilum, et perpendiculum in desolationem; » hoc est, ut Chaldaeus vertit, extendetur super eum linea desolationis, et perpendiculum destructionis. Et, ut Septuaginta, σχοινίον γεωμετρίας ἐρήμου, id est funiculus geometricus deserti, ut scilicet justa mensura diruatur, et redigatur in desertum. Sic IV Reg. XXI, 13, dicitur: « Extendam super Jerusalem funiculum Samariae, » hoc est eadem linea, sive norma et mensura poenae ac vastationis demoliar Jerusalem, qua demolitus sum Samariam. Rursum, sicut fabri materiam secandam vel deasciandam, prius filo seu linea signant, quae Graecis γραμμή dicitur: sic Deus delineat quasi gentes, quas exitio destinat, et deasciare decernit. Hunc esse sensum patet primo, ex eo quod paulo ante hanc gentem vocavit « convulsam et dilaceratam, » et subdit direptam. Inde enim homines macilenti, exhausti et extenuati dicti sunt μονόγραμμοι, quasi unicae lineae, inquit Delrio, adagio 724. Secundo, quia Chaldaeus vertit; populum oppressum et direptum; Septuaginta, gentem sine spe (id est desperatam, deploratam) et conculcatam; Syrus, gentem depilatam, cujus pennae detractae sunt, et eradicatam; Arabicus, gentem sine robore, foedam, despectam (vel nequam, absurdam). Tertio, quia Noster vertit, gentem exspectantem. Aethiopes enim vocantur gens exspectans, scilicet adventum Assyriorum, quia timent eos, avideque praestolantur eventum expeditionis ipsorum. Rursum exspectant, id est experientur certam cladem, quam Assyrii eis inferent. Sic de legatis Ezechiae ad Sennacherib dicitur cap. XXXIII, vers. 7: « Angeli pacis amare flebunt. »
Note: The Hebrew kav first signifies something extended, namely a line: hence second, hope and expectation; for hope extends the soul of the one who hopes, like a line, toward the thing hoped for. Literally, therefore, you would translate the Hebrew thus with Vatablus, Pagninus, Forerius, and others: to a nation of line, line, and of trampling. The nation of the line is called one for which punishment and vengeance from God has been measured out and allotted to the line, as if by rule, according to its demerits, that is, decreed. It is a metaphor from craftsmen and architects: for they build and construct to the line, that is, to the standard, the plumb-line, the rule, and the guide. So too God, to the line of merits or demerits, assigns, forges, and fashions for each one a reward or punishment. Thus in chapter XXXIV, verse 11, it is said: "The measuring line shall be stretched over it, to reduce it to nothing, and the plumb-line to desolation;" that is, as the Chaldean translates, the line of desolation shall be stretched over it, and the plumb-line of destruction. And, as the Septuagint has, σχοινίον γεωμετρίας ἐρήμου, that is, the geometrical cord of the desert, so that it may be destroyed by just measure and reduced to a desert. Thus in IV Kings XXI, 13, it is said: "I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria," that is, with the same line, or standard and measure of punishment and devastation, I will demolish Jerusalem with which I demolished Samaria. Again, just as craftsmen mark the material to be cut or hewn with a string or line, which the Greeks call γραμμή: so God marks out, as it were, the nations which He destines for destruction and determines to hew down. That this is the sense is clear, first, from the fact that shortly before he called this nation "torn apart and plucked asunder," and adds "plundered." For emaciated, drained, and wasted men are called μονόγραμμοι, as if of a single line, says Delrio, adage 724. Second, because the Chaldean translates: a people oppressed and plundered; the Septuagint: a nation without hope (that is, desperate, hopeless) and trampled; the Syriac: a plucked nation, whose feathers have been stripped, and uprooted; the Arabic: a nation without strength, ugly, despised (or worthless, absurd). Third, because our translator renders it: a nation expecting. For the Ethiopians are called an expecting nation, namely expecting the coming of the Assyrians, because they fear them and anxiously await the outcome of their expedition. Again, they expect, that is, they will experience the certain disaster which the Assyrians will inflict upon them. Thus of the ambassadors of Hezekiah to Sennacherib it is said in chapter XXXIII, verse 7: "The angels of peace shall weep bitterly."
Aliter Sanchez: Exspectant, inquit, quotannis inundationem Nili, ut per eum agri oblimentur et faecundentur. Secundo, idem pro gens exspectans, inquit, hebraice est, gens linea linea, q. d. Aethiopes, uti et Aegyptii, quia adjacent Nilo, qui exundans obruit agros, hinc utuntur linea, sive regula et gnomone, quo agrorum spatia dimetiantur, ut sciat quisque quid suum fuerit et sit. Hinc ex hac Nili inundatione ortam esse apud eos Geometriam, docet Strabo, lib. XVII, et Diodorus, lib. II, q. d. Aethiopes et Aegyptii sunt, gens quae lineis aliisque instrumentis geometricis utitur, ut designet cuique suos agros et limites, quos egressus ex alveo Nilus obruerat, confuderat et occaecaverat. Porro sicut in vasis papyraceis eorum infirmitatem; sic nunc in limo et coeno Nili, atque in linea agrorum mensuratrice regionis sordes, et fortunam incertam et instabilem demonstrat. Hucusque Sanchez.
CUJUS DIRIPUERUNT FLUMINA TERRAM EJUS. — Significat Nilum exundantem, qui Aethiopiam, uti et Aegyptum, inundando obruit. Symbolice significat Assyriorum et Babyloniorum copias turmatim coeuntes, instar fluminum obruituras Aethiopiam, ut eam conculcent et vastent.
Versus 3: All the Inhabitants of the World
3. OMNES HABITATORES ORBIS. — Pergit loqui Deus, q. d. Cum Assyrios et Babylonios quasi legatos meos misero, tunc videbunt omnes gentes bellum acre, quod per eos contra Aethiopes ego geram. 4. QUIESCAM ET CONSIDERABO IN LOCO MEO (q. d. Eminus e throno meo tacitus, imo gaudens spectabo quasi ludos, scilicet haec spectacula vindictae meae, puta stragem Aethiopum): SICUT MERIDIANA LUX CLARA EST, — q. d. Cum Aethiopes erunt in tenebris, id est angustiis, ego in clara et serena luce mea habitans, clarus, serenus, imo gloriosus eos contemplabor. Sic Moses et seniores viderunt gloriam Dei, « quasi opus lapidis sapphirini, et quasi coelum cum serenum est, » Exodi XXIV, 10. Vide ibi dicta. Simili adagio usus fertur Heraclitus philosophus. Nam cum aquae intercutis morbo laboraret, sic solebat medicos interrogare: « Num ex imbre sudum et ex nubilo serenum efficere nossent? » per imbrem hydropem, per sudum et serenum sanitatem intelligens. Quod cum medici non intelligerent, ille se boum fimo totus obruit, ut illius calido vapore noxius corporis humor exudans exsiccaretur: ubi cum diutius obrutus permansisset, interiit, si credimus Laertio et Plutarcho.
4. I WILL BE QUIET AND I WILL CONSIDER IN MY PLACE (as if to say: From afar, from My throne, silent, indeed rejoicing, I will watch as if at games, namely these spectacles of My vengeance, that is, the slaughter of the Ethiopians): AS THE NOONDAY LIGHT IS CLEAR, — as if to say: When the Ethiopians are in darkness, that is, in distress, I, dwelling in My clear and serene light, bright, serene, indeed glorious, will contemplate them. Thus Moses and the elders saw the glory of God, "as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as the heaven when it is serene," Exodus XXIV, 10. See what was said there. Heraclitus the philosopher is said to have used a similar saying. For when he was suffering from dropsy, he used to ask the physicians: "Did they know how to produce fair weather from rain and clear sky from cloud?" meaning by rain the dropsy, and by fair and clear weather, health. When the physicians did not understand, he buried himself entirely in ox dung, so that by its warm vapor the harmful bodily fluid might sweat out and be dried up: but when he had remained buried thus for too long, he died, if we believe Laertius and Plutarch.
Et sicut nubes roris in die messis, — q. d. Aethiopes erunt in ardore, tum solis quo torrentur (sunt enim in Zona torrida), tum cladis et excidii: ego autem ero in refrigerio beatus, perinde ac si essem in nube roscida, quae tempore messis solet messores refrigerare; indeque vastationi Aethiopum aliquid roris instillabo, id est moderationem afferam, eamque clementia temperabo, ne penitus deleantur.
Versus 5: For Before the Harvest the Whole Thing has Blossomed
5. ANTE MESSEM ENIM TOTUS EFFLORUIT. — Persistit in metaphora messis, quae dum in flore luxuriat, omnemque succum et vires in flores effundit, segete et fructu destituitur. Idem fit in arbore, quae, antequam maturescat fructus, in flores, germina et surculos totam se effundit: de ea enim dicit, quod « immatura perfectio, » id est immaturi surculi et ramusculi, licet in se perfecti germinabunt, sed fructus non dabunt maturos. Causam dat cladis Aethiopum, scilicet eorum praeproperam gloriationem et provocationem hostium, q. d. Aethiopes florebant et superbiebant suis viribus gloriose praefidentes, et sibi promittentes amplum imperium: ideoque audientes Sennacherib eminus in Judaea versari, praepropere arma moverant, ac contra eum aciem direxerunt, eumque ad praelium provocarunt. Sed hic omnis eorum flos fuit intempestivus et praecox, nec maturuit, sed in herba periit et succisus est: nam primo a Sennacherib, deinde a Nabuchodonosore succisi sunt: hoc est quod ait: « Et praecidentur ramusculi ejus falcibus, » id est juvenes et milites ardentiores Aethiopum gladiis Assyriorum occidentur; « et quae derelicta fuerint, abscindentur et excutientur, » id est reliquias Aethiopum ex bello profugas persequentur Assyrii et Chaldaei, easque partim occident, partim capient, spoliabunt et dissipabunt. Ita juvenes animosi et temerarii dum milites validos lacessunt, suae efflorescentis audaciae dignam referunt messem, scilicet caedem et cladem.
Nota totus, id est fere totus, plerique; nam mox aliquos, vers. 7, excipit. Vide Can. XXX. 6. ET RELINQUENTUR SIMUL AVIBUS MONTIUM, — q. d. Tanta erit Aethiopum strages, ut caesorum cadavera sufficient integra aestate et hieme, ad voraces feras et carnivoras aves alendum.
6. AND THEY SHALL BE LEFT TOGETHER TO THE BIRDS OF THE MOUNTAINS, — as if to say: So great will be the slaughter of the Ethiopians, that the corpses of the slain will suffice for an entire summer and winter to feed the voracious beasts and carnivorous birds.
Versus 7: At that Time (namely in the days of
7. IN TEMPORE ILLO (scilicet in diebus Messiae, vide Can. XII), DEFERETUR MUNUS DOMINO. — Solent Prophetae post tristia, ut ea leniant, laeta subjungere: ita hic fit, q. d. Post hanc Aethiopum cladem, Aethiopes relicta vana spe, quam habebant in suis, tum viribus, tum idolis, agnoscent verum Deum, eumque colent in monte Sion, id est in Ecclesia. Factum hoc est, cum Eunuchus Candacis reginae Aethiopum conversus a Philippo, Actor. VIII, fidem Christi per Aethiopiam sparsit; cumque S. Matthaeus Apostolus, eo profectus, regem et regnum convertit: unde in Aethiopia mire floruit Christianismus. Hoc est quod ait Psaltes, Psalm. LXVII: « Coram illo procident Aethiopes, » et Psalm. LXVII: « Aethiopia praeveniet manus ejus Deo. » Vide nostrum P. Cotignium et alios, qui de Ecclesia et historia Aethiopiae scripserunt.
A GENTE EXSPECTANTE. — Ita legendum cum Romanis, id est plurimum exspectante. Est auxesis.